The present invention relates to an automatic pistol holster. More particularly, it refers to an automatic pistol holster having two releasable thumb straps which normally engage the hammer and handle portion of the pistol to prevent its inadvertent disengagement or removal from the holster.
Presently, with the accelerating increase in violent crime, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies have upgraded the firearms used by police officers. In particular, in many police departments today, the 38 special revolvers have been retired from service and instead faster, higher capacity and more reliable semi-automatic pistols have been used.
Holsters, belts and the like have been proposed for holding these weapons, but conventional holsters for these semi-automatic weapons can allow inadvertent release of the weapon from the holster such as when the police officer is in a struggle with a criminal. In particular, it is important for any holster to provide for adequate gun retention, durability, reliability, speed of access to the pistol and its withdrawal to firing position and streamline contouring to prevent accidental snagging on projections such as door handles or accidental release of the weapon.
A variety of holsters have been proposed for the use of automatic weapons (see e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,694,980, 3,252,638, 2,765,968, 2,531,170 and 4,886,197 and the Article entitled: SIGARMS QUARTERLY, Volume 5, 1993), but so far as is known by applicant, all of the currently available models typically only have a single thumb strap and snap which prevents the weapon from being removed from the holster. This single thumb snap and strap can easily become disengaged and, as a result, if not properly snapped, or if it should become inadvertently snapped open, the weapon can easily be removed or fall from the holster.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel automatic pistol holster which affords significantly improved gun retention, while at the same time affording durability and reliability, speed of access to the pistol and its withdrawal to firing position, while avoiding unintentional or inadvertent removal of the pistol from the holster.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a novel automatic pistol holster which is economical to fabricate, easy to use and relatively inexpensive to produce.
It is more particular object of the present invention to provide such a novel pistol holster which is specifically designed for semi-automatic pistols for use by police officers.